Dataset for "Printed Humidity Sensors from Renewable and Biodegradable Materials"

Increasing environmental concerns raised by the accumulation of electronic waste draws attention to the development of sustainable materials for short-lived electronics. In this framework, printed capacitive humidity sensors and temperature resistive detectors composed exclusively of biodegradable materials: shellac, carbon-derived particles, and egg-albumin are reported. The sensor platform comprises interdigitated electrodes serving as a capacitive transducer for humidity sensing, and a serpentine used as a resistive temperature detector. Both the interdigitated and serpentine electrodes are manufactured by screen-printing carbon ink on a shellac substrate. The humidity sensors are constructed by drop-coating egg albumin on the interdigitated carbon electrodes and the temperature detector is prepared by encapsulating the serpentine design with shellac. Shellac is shown to be a biodegradable alternative to hydrophilic cellulose-derived substrates, with the capacitive humidity sensors demonstrating a sensitivity of 0.011% RH−1. The response and recovery times on shellac are 12 and 20 times faster than on cellulose-based substrate, and the serpentine resistive temperature detectors have a temperature coefficient of 5300 ppm K−1. At the end of their service-life, the sensors produced are home compostable and can be environmentally friendly disposed, potentially enabling their future use for sustainable and environmentally friendly smart-packaging, agricultural sensing, or point-of-care testing.电子废弃物堆积引发的环境问题日益严峻，促使学界关注短寿命电子产品用可持续材料的研发。本研究报道了仅采用紫胶（shellac）、碳基颗粒与卵清蛋白（egg-albumin）三种可降解材料制备的印刷式电容湿度传感器与电阻式温度检测器。该传感器平台包含作为湿度传感电容式换能器的叉指电极（interdigitated electrodes），以及作为电阻式温度检测器的蛇形电极（serpentine）。叉指电极与蛇形电极均通过在紫胶基底上丝网印刷碳墨水制备而成。湿度传感器通过在叉指碳电极上滴涂卵清蛋白制得，而温度检测器则通过用紫胶封装该蛇形电极结构制备得到。研究表明，紫胶可作为亲水性纤维素基底的可降解替代材料，本研究制备的电容湿度传感器灵敏度可达0.011% RH⁻¹。该传感器在紫胶基底上的响应时间与恢复时间分别比纤维素基底快12倍与20倍，而蛇形电阻式温度检测器的温度系数可达5300 ppm·K⁻¹。在服役寿命结束后，所制备的传感器具备家用堆肥可降解性，可进行环境友好处置，有望未来应用于可持续且环保的智能包装、农业传感或即时检测（point-of-care testing）等场景。